How can we increase engagement in conferences?

Since commencing my PhD, I developed an increasing interest in attending, and presenting at conferences. To me, they represent an opportunity to share your work and network with peers. They have the ability to reinvigorate and re-energise our attitude to work, but why do some fall flat, where others shine?

At a recent conference, I had an interesting conversation with a very experienced researcher and scholar, who was heavily involved in her own inaugural conference development. She was drawing comparisons from one which she had recently attended that had taken the risk to shift away from more tired and traditional styles, to one that is more interactive and inclusive.

Usually, there are certain elements which one would expect to see when attending a conference: goody bags stuffed with materials (most of which end up in the bin), concurrent sessions that are not always planned to compliment one another (and may mean you miss out on some great talks - or have to hike a mile to get between sessions), and a naff, themed dinner (which is almost certain to serve banal food and wine).

The more contemporary conference, did away with some of these components and, for example, shifted away from concurrent sessions to plenary only. The talks are structured to build on from, and compliment one another, with a tendency to shift away from death by PowerPoint to a mix of sessions that incorporate more interactive elements.

As someone who is beginning to lose interest in attending the same old conference, I know I will be looking more judiciously at attending events that incorporate more of these interactive elements, and step away from traditional and tired components that offer little value to attendees. We need to work towards increasing the use of technology to support conferences, continue to look at ways to make them more environmentally sustainable, and provide added value for attendees by way of increasing the interactive sessions, and focusing on quality, rather than quantity. Forming multidisciplinary alliances is also of value and would serve to bridge the gap, particularly in health care where an existing hierarchy impacts on teamwork and collaboration in significant way.